A group representing
non-resident Indians in
the UAE reckons that
last year alone there
were 300 cancellations
by Air India in various
sectors, not to mention
innumerable delays and
schedule cut-backs.

Dubai: When an Air India flight from Mangalore arrived in Dubai behind schedule on October 26, the delay was blamed on the bees. The hive they had built overnight was promptly dealt with and the incident went largely unnoticed. It paled compared to a shocking experience passengers aboard an Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight underwent the previous Friday.

The Air India Express flight IX 452, a Boeing 737, was flying from the UAE capital to Kochi in the Indian state of Kerala when it was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram due to bad weather. But when it landed, passengers, including pregnant women and children, were holed up in the aircraft for several hours without food, water and air-conditioning.

At their wits end, the passengers demanded to know when they would be flown back to Kochi. But they claim the crew kept them in the dark, dodging questions and throwing their hands up on the plea that their shift was ending. Enraged, some passengers then approached the cockpit and got into a heated argument with the crew. The pilot, Captain Rupali Waghmare alleged that they even assaulted and threatened them with dire consequences. She immediately pressed the hijack alarm, creating history not just in Air India but Indian aviation itself.

As six passengers, all from Abu Dhabi, face ‘hijack’ charges, the question that Indians in the UAE are asking is: what ails the Indian airlines? Claiming they have suffered for far too long in the hands of the national carrier Air India - and more recently Kingfisher Airlines - they are now saying “enough is enough”.

On October 26, Pravasi Action Council, a newly formed group of non-resident Indians in the UAE, met in Dubai to “share our concern and grievances regarding Air India’s attitude towards the Pravasis”.

Dr Puthur Rahman, Chairman of the Council, told XPRESS representatives of 43 Indian organisations in the UAE attended the meeting where they decided to move the Kerala High Court against Air India to demand compensation for passengers of the Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight. He said the council has also appointed a lawyer for the accused passengers.

One of the six accused, Thomson Jose Akkara, who works as a senior designer at a contracting firm in Abu Dhabi, told XPRESS: “We have not received any official communication about the charges as yet. We have given our statements to the offices of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the assistant police commissioner at Thiuruvanathapuram.”

Akkara said: “We did not enter the cockpit. There was no violence. If there had been such a commotion, how would the same crew fly us back to Kochi on the same flight? Only the main pilot changed.”

The Pravasi Action Council has also submitted a memorandum to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying: “Air India is treating the Pravasis like enemies.”

“We have nothing against Air India, it’s just their attitude. We depend on them heavily and they treat us so shabbily. How many more delays and cancellations should we suffer? Last year alone, there were 300 cancellations in various sectors of Air India, not to mention the innumerable delays and schedule cut-backs,” Dr Rahman said.

The horrific Mangalore air crash of 2010 and the 58-day pilots’ strike earlier this year have only added fuel to the fire. Farhan, a Dubai resident who frequently flies Air India Express to Lucknow, said: “They are perhaps one of the only airlines with no concept of customer service or customer loyalty programme. On Lucknow sector, the airline hasn’t changed its snack menu (soggy patties, dry sandwich and sugar-coated cupcake) in years.”

Complaints about pending refunds following last-minute cancellations also crop up with alarming regularity. Lawrence, whose ticket on a Dubai-Thiruvananthapuram flight was cancelled in September, said he was still running from pillar to post for a refund. “Poor communication and very poor service in Air India Express,” he said.

But Air India claims otherwise. Seema Srivastava, Regional Manager for the Gulf, told XPRESS: “As per our current statistics, Air India’s on-time performance out of UAE is more than 80 per cent.”

“If you compare the summer and winter schedules, Air India Express has definitely increased capacity out of all three stations (Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi,” she said, pointing out that the airlines operate 186 flights per week from the UAE in the current winter schedule as against 159 flights in the earlier summer schedule.

What gives the national carrier an edge over the others is its wide connectivity and network, besides attractive fares. As Srivastava said, Air India and Air India Express together carry more than 3,000 passengers from the Gulf every day. They fly to 16 destinations in India from the UAE, five of which are not connected by any other airlines. These destinations are Tiruchy, Amritsar, Mangalore, Pune and Vishakapatanam.

“Apart from this, Air India offers extremely attractive fares to all these destinations in India. It offers a host of add-on fares to various interior points in India for as less as Dh100 extra,” said Srivastava, adding that all flight departures from the UAE are at convenient times so that passengers can take their onward connections from India.

Even the most unhappy passengers agree that Air India’s connectivity and timings are unmatched. Santhosh Rai, a Dubai resident, said he continues to fly Air India Express despite losing his wife and two children to the Mangalore crash. “I wish I had a choice but I don’t. Air India Express is the only airline that takes me to my hometown Mangalore,” he said, still battling for the compensation due to the family.

But others like Anup, an Abu Dhabi resident who was on the Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight on October 19, vow they will never fly Air India again. “It was simply horrible, the way they denied us basic facilities like ventilation, food and water for so many hours,” he said.

“Instead of arranging transport to their original destination or some comfortable resting rooms for passengers, they were cloistered on the runway. When the tired and angry passengers protested and requested for transportation and water, the pilot panicked and informed the authorities that the plane was hijacked and registered a case against the already weary passengers,” said Dr Rahman.

Passengers travelling to Kerala have in fact long been demanding an alternative to Air India which enjoys a near-monopoly in the Gulf sector. So much so that the Kerala Government has stepped in with a proposal to set up an exclusive airline - Air Kerala - for their benefit. Subject to approvals, the airline plans to launch in April 2013, becoming India’s first airline promoted by an individual state.

While Keralites in the UAE are going all out to support the proposed carrier, the unflattering experience of Indian airlines like Kingfisher is not lost on others. The hugely indebted airline put thousands of passengers through recurrent ordeals of inordinate delays, abrupt cancellations and refund logjams before its licence was finally suspended last month. With an average of 500 passengers from the UAE taking its three daily flights, affected residents here found themselves raising the same uncomfortable questions about the performance of Indian airlines.

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation India in its October 2012 report has noted that the second quarter of 2012 saw “a return to significant losses across the board, with the Indian airlines combined losing $470-550 million. Of this, Air India’s estimated losses stood at $280-320 million, followed by Kingfisher at $110-130 million.

However, it notes that in the three months ended June 30, 2012, all private Indian carriers, with the exception of Kingfisher, were profitable. “On the one hand, improved matching of demand and supply (largely as a result of the contraction of capacity by Kingfisher), combined with greater pricing discipline resulted in a substantial increase in average yields which contributed significantly to the improved performance. But this was offset by a hostile cost environment primarily related to high fuel prices and a weak currency. The particularly strong performance by Air India, which achieved the highest average fare and reported a small operating profit on domestic operations, reflected the changing market dynamics.”

Binit Somaia, CAPA’s South Asia Director, told XPRESS: “Air India has faced some operational challenges due to its cashflow issues. However, the airline is starting to see improvements.”

Srivastava also make it a point to say: “We are offering our latest product Dreamliner 787 on our Dubai/Delhi sector and it has become extremely popular with the travelling public … Air India would make all efforts and strive towards being the most trusted airline for our passengers in the Gulf.”

But clearly, few in the UAE seem convinced.

Sharmila Dhal is a Senior Reporter with XPress, a sister publication of Gulf News

Comments (31)

Added 17:02 February 16, 2013

I did not travel in any Indian Airlines and dont want to fly with them
,only because of their poor service.

Amin, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 17:01 February 16, 2013

it unuseful if you guys are still flying in Air india. Airlines has
lost their reputation back in 2000's and still all are using due to the
cost effectiveness. we value money than time. that's the attitude issue
of all of us. use alternative which good in the market. why u guys are
still eating the spoiled ones. let them correct it and fly for one year
with out fail then u think about taking the flight. till then ma salama airindia.

Vicky, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 17:00 February 16, 2013

The attitude of Air India staff must be reviewed, as like some old Govt.
department, they also think that the passengers need to beg to them for
their leniency to get prompt service and they are not consider us as
like their customers

Mohammad Sherief, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Added 16:48 February 16, 2013

AIR INDIA!!! what do i say about it, i have a had good expirences as well
as good ones's have been travelling with this airlines for the past two
and a half years. our of which the latest flight that i travelled by was
the worst. They did not send our luggage we had to wait for around
almost two days to get our luggage back. This is a terrible thing to
do, what if a passanger stays miles away from the airport or if there
are perishible good etc in the cargo. they atleast had to inform us
regarding the same in advance. The explaination given was that the fligt
was full. Rubbish! besides me the entire seats were empty and many more.
And i totally agree to the fact that the Air India crew have no
hospitality sense and they just do not have the ability to speak well
towards the passengers.

Chrisella, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 16:45 February 16, 2013

Indians are treated very badly by Air India Crew. If situation not
improved, Air India will be the ultimate loser not the passengers as we
have several options among airlines operating here, with Quality service
and economic rates and punctual schedules.

SOJAN CHACKO, ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates

Added 16:39 February 16, 2013

“As per our current statistics, Air India’s on-time
performance out of UAE is more than 80 per cent.” - Hahaha.
Ms.Seema, I'd like to ask you as to what basis have you compared the
airlines performance with? The way I see it, the airlines would not be
in a position to compare with any other airlines in the world, for
another 100 years. By the time the airlines gets on it feet and adheres
to the customer issues, every home on earth would have a personal flying
vehicle in their garages. Kudos I'd say !

Vishnu Panicker, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 15:37 February 16, 2013

Given the dismal conditions Air India is in for the past few years and
given its not productive bloated bureaucracy, the only solution is
privatization of the national carrier. Earlier it is sold out the better
for the taxpayers.

Hajwani Dawood, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Added 15:24 February 16, 2013

That's bcoz India is a democracy and free to air any views sometimes
going beyond the limits especially the media who is hungry for news and
bites and opinions. Hence any delay gets noticed. Moreover when a PM or
President has to go on tour 3 aircraft of the Airline is kept
standby. These same expats cry for help when they have to be evacuated
from Kuwait, Libya etc. Bahrain air closed one fine morning 98 pax to one
destination were asked to find some other options and refunds shall be
paid once the company is liquidated. These are the same Indians who would
create a hue and cry if it happened to their Airline

srk, Delhi, India

Added 15:11 February 16, 2013

Only two time travel in Air India and Air India express, I feel very
bad, and worst service ever I traveled. One time I needed to stay in Air
port for 16Hrs with my fellow passenger because of pilot is not
qualified. That is the last trip in Air India.

Carol JP, Abu Dhabi, India

Added 15:08 February 16, 2013

I have had a good experience with Air India. In fact it is one of my
preferred airline to fly to Mumbai. In fact most of the woes mentioned
here is regarding people from Kerala. Seems like Air India has problems
with only them.

CP, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 14:49 February 16, 2013

Air India of all the other airlines i have boarded is the worst,
Customer satisfaction is an alien term for most of the crew. Air India just dont care what the passenger
feels cause at the end of the day even if they run at million dollar
loss, people get paid and nobody is gonna give a damn about public
feedback. But i have to admit that a few flights were actually good ,
but majority , around 70% were bad. 2 years ago I took a resolution not
to fly in Air India.

Paul, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 14:32 February 16, 2013

Sadly the whole Air India system is sick. More sadly they are happy with
the sickness and love to continue the way they are. Why to change when
they can live the way they want? The staff is a lifetime liability to
Indian government.

Mahaboob, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 14:31 February 16, 2013

once I was going to Dammam from Delhi by Air India my flight time was 10.0
Am as i reached at 7.30 in morning at Delhi airport with my wife and
kids and checked the departure schedule the plan was cancelled without
any information. Then i was forced to take hydrabad flight in evening
and then early in the morning I got flight for Dammam from hydrabad. I
travelled more than 5 time by Air India rarely I found this airline on
time.

Gulam M., Jaipur, India

Added 14:24 February 16, 2013

Last Thursday (14Feb13) experience, one of my brother-in-law proceeded
an emergency leave for 10 days. he booked in Air India Express leaving
from Dubai to Trichy. At DXB Terminal 2, he was told along with group of
other 10 passengers that there are no seats were available to allow
them. we were wondering that how was it possible. We couldn't believe
that, then the airways personal diverted them to go to other flight
which were leaving from DXB Terminal 1 to Chennai. The passengers had
arranged own taxi to reach T1. Airways had not taken any responsibility
for such reckless practice. I believe that the most of the passengers
had such experience.

Jayaram Muthu, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 14:23 February 16, 2013

In this article we are unhappy from Airlines of our Home country (Air
India), in another article we will be unhappy from another dept, and in
another article we will be unhappy from one more dept. and so on. In
fact we people do not perform our work perfectly in time, We expect more
benefits / incentives (whether we deserve or not) than performance of
our duty/work. Someone may be working in Land Dept / Police dept. /
Municipality / Pension Dept. or any Govt. Dept., travelling in Indian
Airlines, will protest / show unhappiness on the operations or behavior
of staff of the airlines, But when these people (passengers) were
supposed to work perfectly / in time in their job in their offices,
Whether they were honest to job? Answer is best known to them. We most
of the Indian never perform their own duties well, but get right to
speak / blame employees of other dept. and suffer from the delays on
account of Non Performance of Duty. Lets us do our work perfectly and
in time and sometimes more on Humanity basis. We will be the BEST in
the world.

Praveen Aneja, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Added 14:01 February 16, 2013

Well like to say that i have best and warm experience with AIR INDIA but
some time you can feel bad experience which can happen with any other
airline. We indians ourselves talk bad our country and other things
related to our country so how expect , others respect our airline and country.

N S Chadha, Tehran, Iran (Islamic Republic Of)

Added 13:56 February 16, 2013

I and my son had a holiday in Delhi on November via Air India. I swear
not to utilise the airlines again. Flights were cancelled last minute
and till this moment, I didn't get my refund yet.

Flory Macaso, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 13:47 February 16, 2013

I would say that such airlines should close down. No need of
governmental airlines. Big governments such as Indian government can't
control India Airline. In UAE, each airlines belong to certain Emirates
not to forget that there are other shareholders in some airlines. This
reminds me with Olympic airline. It closed down for little while and
sold its most wide bodies due to false studies, wrong planning and
bureaucracy. India airline should be privatized. And let the market
decide the fare prices. Tax payer and government shouldn't pay for its
citizens tickets. Well fare mentality doesn't work anymore

Alaa, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Added 13:20 February 16, 2013

I was travelling back from Kampala to Dubai and our 'best airline' was
stuck at a Adis Ababba for 8 hours in one place. The reason was the
flight could not be re-fueled due to some technical problems. The news
never came in any of the leading newspapers. I have travelled Air India/
Air India Express several times but I felt the problem is mainly with
the Indians who think that they can do anything when they are flying to India.

Naveen Shetty, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 12:50 February 16, 2013

We have been flying from Dubai to Bangalore and Chennai since many
yearsAt least we do not have complaints about their timings and food.

Mahesh, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 12:38 February 16, 2013

Since AIE launched, many times I travelled to Kochi and TVM from Abu
Dhabi but never went through any such bad experience. Of course, AIE
cannot satisfy all their customers, however, they can improve their
services especially in snacks and foods. During the last 3-4 years the
schedule were almost perfect from Abu Dhabi. Rates are also quite
reasonable if you book couple of months before and definitely you should
not expect more than this in budget airlines. You can realise and will
accept that AIE is extending their services in an acceptable level if
you try some other budget airlines from Middle East.

Alex Joseph, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Added 12:36 February 16, 2013

I am one of the sufferer from our great "Air India",. Post
cancellation behavious of the authorities at the airport was very
unprofessional.the choice i made that i stopped using them. Shame on
them.

P Kumar, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 12:33 February 16, 2013

I was booked a ticket to Trivandrum with Airindia on one thursday night
in 2002 , but it was delayed 2days diverted to Kochi without any
valuable reasons. Really I required 3 days to recover the health in my
home. I am using all the rest of the airlines without any such
difficulties still.

SYEDALI, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 12:32 February 16, 2013

Nobody is happy with the Airline. Neither the Airline employees, nor the
passengers, nor the Govt. I wonder why such airline should exist anymore.!!

Mohammad Azhar, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Added 11:45 February 16, 2013

Air Arabia is best no comparison, very competetive fares very good
service, no cancellations, flight are very good. I simply love
Air Arabia & above all daily 2 flight from Delhi to Sharjah amazing.

Faiz, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Added 11:30 February 16, 2013

Indian Govt never give importance to their own citizen to use of their
own flights especially for middle east residents, all the flights to
India from Abu Dhabi or Dubai is very worst condition, people like me are
forced to fly in Air India express or Air India, because no other
budgetary (alternative) flights available for our south India
destinations, nowadays no budgetary direct flights available to
Chennai from Abu Dhabi, all Air India flights are cancelled by Indian
authority to Chennai and no one care's about the south Indians specially
Chennai's.

Shaffic, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Added 11:07 February 16, 2013

To sum up, Air India experience is nothing but a familiar feeling that
you get when you deal with any Govt. Dept back in your country. If you
want to increase your blood pressure, fly with them.

Ahmad, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Added 11:04 February 16, 2013

I had very bad experience from Air India express. One of my co-passenger
used Lavatory located at the front side. While he returning after use,
the aeroster asked "who permitted you to use". Then we had
very argument on these issue. One of the aerosters started threaten us
saying that she will lodge case against us will put jail for 3 years
minimum, etc. She was also talking about her qualifications, skills,
etc. From then I decided not to travel that flight anymore. I used
travel every 42 days.

Abdul Razak VT, Malappuram, India

Added 10:59 February 16, 2013

Dear compatriots I had travelled in Air India many times I didnt had any hassles and problems and the services was excellent. to know this you have to travel in the same
air line to europe, USA or to Arab countries.so please dont be an scape
goat for these airlines who are trying to monopolise our roots.

Nabeel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 10:47 February 16, 2013

Me and my family had many bad exprience with Air India. Simply we are no
more flying with Air India. Because complaining is useless. Thanks.

Usman Bade., Dubai., United Arab Emirates

Added 10:00 February 16, 2013

I have a very bad experience of this flight. It was 2 years back when my
father passed away in early morning of Friday. I have to reach back to
my home town India,Maharashtra,Aurangabad. From Dubai i took Emirates
flights which is one of the best flight and on on time which has landed
me to Mumbai at 12.00. From there I was booked for AirIndia which was
going to depart at 15.00 hours. But instead of that it has moved 19.00
hours which was late by 4 hours. It was a very bad situation. The last
ritual was held up for me to reach to Aurangabad. It is very sad this
flight is always late and if you are going in emergency then it is a big
disadvantage you will never reach on time.